Her big, almond eyes catch the gaze of the viewer. Her nose has been damaged.

To her right, in the top corner, stands a putto in a palm tree holding a wreath in his left hand. To her left, a floating putto holds palm branches.

In the upper panel, above this scene, sits a male figure facing forward; he has a broad face framed by curls and a full beard, with his left hand behind his head and his right hand, possibly holding a cornucopia (a symbol of plenty consisting of a goat's horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn) resting on his knee. His upper body is nude, and a mantle is draped around the back of his head and his lower body. He is depicted seated with his legs spread apart and wearing sandals.

The figure represents Saturn. A palmette appears behind his head (an ornamental motif based on the spreading fronds of the palm tree).

Saturn was a particularly important deity in Roman North Africa, and his image appears on North African stelae (Schörner 2007). Saturn's cult developed from the earlier worship of the Punic and indigenous god Baal (Wilson 2004). On either side stands a horseman holding a whip and leading his horse.

They are dressed in short mantles and pointed caps (the Dioscuri). The Dioscuri were twin demi-god protectors of sailors and patrons of horsemen and races, depicted as a pair of naked youths, wearing traveller's capes and egg-shaped caps, and with a horse or horse's head by their side (Theoi Greek Mythology, “Dioscuri
Cult”).

The bottom scene depicts a bovine, with a boy in front holding a sheaf of grain(?)
(Rijksmuseum van Oudheden 1975, object 90).
Roman funerary monuments should not be understood solely as markers of a grave, but also as material carriers of memoria. The monument served as a means of ensuring the deceased’s continued presence among the living (Schörner 2007).

h. 90, w. 33,5 and d. 10 cm.

Provenance

Collection Zaadhof Sr., The Hague, Holland and J. Zaadhof, The Hague, Holland by descent.

Published and exhibited

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Klassieke kunst uit particulier bezit: Nederlandse verzamelingen 1575–1975. Tentoonstellingscatalogus nr. 10. Leiden: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, 1975, cat. 90, with photograph. Exhibited 1975, Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden, Leiden, Holland.